In medical appliances requiring connection of passages for liquid(s) to be used for infusion, transfusion, nutrient dosing or the like, the liquid passages (circuits) must be connected and disconnected as required, when sustainedly or momentarily causing a flow of the liquid(s), such as a liquid medicine, blood, and liquid food. In such a situation, it is known to attach a connection means for connecting the liquid passages to an intermediate portion of the circuit. Typical examples of the connection means include the one described in Patent Document 1.
The connection means (connector) includes a male connector section, a female connector section, a male lock section, and a female lock section. When connection means having such a configuration are connected to each other, the male lock section on one side and the female lock section on the other side engage with each other in a locked condition, and the male connector section on one side and the female connector section on the other side communicate with each other to permit liquid to flow therethrough. When the connection means are connected to each other in the locked condition, the male lock section on one side is elastically deformed and engages with the female lock section on the other side. At the time of engagement, a locking sound (clicking), which enables confirmation (recognition) of the locked condition, is generated.
At the time of unlocking, in order to release the locked condition, however, such a sound (unlocking sound), which enables confirmation of unlocking, is not generated. Therefore, it is unknown whether unlocking has successfully been achieved or not, and there may be cases in which, for example, an operator thinks that he or she has completed the operation for unlocking the connection means once locked to each other, but where actually, unlocking has not been achieved. In such a case, the operator may think that unlocking has been achieved and may pull the connection means away from each other. In this situation, depending on the magnitude of the pulling forces, there is a risk that excessive forces might be exerted on the male lock section and the female lock section on respective sides, eventually breaking one or both of the lock sections.
Patent Document 1: International Publication No. WO 2006/068211